Author

Carly Stern

@SternCarly96

Carly Stern is a freelance reporter based in San Francisco who covers housing, disability policy, urban life and economic inequality. She won a San Francisco Press Club Award in 2019 for her multimedia investigation into why the “benefit cliff” pushes people with disabilities to get divorced. Her work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Lily and other national publications.

Jennifer Senior follows a personal trail to undo the erasure of her disabled aunt

Jennifer Senior follows a personal trail to undo the erasure of her disabled aunt

The Atlantic writer uncovers the painful truth behind the treatment of a generation of Americans warehoused in asylums and denied by families
November 29, 2023
Peek inside a successful book proposal

Peek inside a successful book proposal

Author Kim Cross annotates the lengthy proposal that landed a contract for the book that revisits the 1993 Polly Klaas kidnapping
November 17, 2023
Nonfiction author Kim Cross breaks down how to sell a book proposal

Nonfiction author Kim Cross breaks down how to sell a book proposal

The narrative journalist details the upside of rejection, the importance of timing, the value of a good agent and the reality of advances
November 17, 2023
A collaboration through nine months, 14,000 words, 36 chapters and a "leap of faith"

A collaboration through nine months, 14,000 words, 36 chapters and a “leap of faith”

‘We were taking a big leap of faith and trusting readers to be able to figure it out themselves,’ says investigative reporter Raquel Rutledge
July 14, 2023
‘Good versus good’ stories that unravel complex societal problems

‘Good versus good’ stories that unravel complex societal problems

By Carly SternFor Nathan Heller, Lowell High School had always represented the road not taken. Heller had applied to Lowell when he was a teenager growing up in San Francisco,…
March 10, 2023
The Pitch: Landing a "definitive narrative" in The Atavist Magazine

The Pitch: Landing a “definitive narrative” in The Atavist Magazine

Editor Seyward Darby: "I definitely want people who are willing to strip a story down to its basics and figure out how to build it back up."
August 18, 2022
Four years of reporting follows new threads in a previously reported crime story

Four years of reporting follows new threads in a previously reported crime story

Katia Savchuk spent a year pre-reporting before she pitched The Atavist on a nuanced story of crime and mental illness
August 17, 2022
The New Yorker explores a dilemma in Ultra-Orthodox divorce: What about the children?

The New Yorker explores a dilemma in Ultra-Orthodox divorce: What about the children?

Writer Larissa MacFarquhar is drawn to stories that help her sort out issues that have no clear solutions
September 21, 2021

3 rejections before a successful pitch to ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network

How freelancer Max Blau persisted to land an investigative project fellowship, then a staff reporting position
August 18, 2021
Pitching ProPublica's Local Reporting Network: Focus on sources and impact

Pitching ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network: Focus on sources and impact

"Why does this story need to be told here, in this community? And why does this story need to be told now?" says ProPublica’s managing editor for local
August 17, 2021